The Mets and Meija

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Woof, that looks bad now. Which I'm happy about, honestly.

I didn't give myself enough time when I originally burped that post up to elaborate that I meant that as an option moving forward, rather than a "bring me Westbrook NOW!!" sort of deal. I didn't have faith that Tak had the ability to still be effective going through a lineup a second on third time, just like I don't have faith that Maine or Perez could return to something approximate to their 2007 forms. Any of those options is naturally preferable than having to bring in a guy from outside the organization, and I will gladly have Takahashi continue to make me (and hitters) look bad.

[Valadius]

Mejia sent to AA to be a starter.

It's about time.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Why? Has irreperable damage been done to him? Has he hurt the team?

[Benjamin Grimm]

No, and no.

But I do think it's a good move.

[Fman99]

Mejia down, Parnell up to bolster the pen. Good call.

[Guest Edgy DC]

It's almost perfect, in a best-of-both-worlds sense. Parnell expected to return. Let's hope he comes back hungry.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Mejia's service, such as it was, did serve one purpose: inverted innings cap.

He should be able to start the rest of the year, to nobody's detriment.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

That and the fact that he was capable of a 3.25 ERA against major league competition at age 20. I know it wasn't the prettiest 3.25 but if you consider it's only a start (or a beginning)...

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

That and the fact that he was capable of a 3.25 ERA against major league competition at age 20. I know it wasn't the prettiest 3.25 but if you consider it's only a start (or a beginning)...

He wasn't up here for development purposes. He was here expressly to help the pen... and, given that he was used in the lowest-leverage sitches on average of ANYONE in the pen (Acosta included) and that he put up a hugely luck-dependent 3ish ERA (1:1 K/BB ratio and 12% BB rate) in those situations, he probably did about as well as Acosta or any other AAA arm used half-intelligently might have. IOW: a net wash. (BaseballReference has his WAR on the year at 0.3; Fangraphs has it pegged at -0.2.)

I need no convincing of the kid's potential. I'm saying that plopping the kid-- whose big hole is that his off-speed stuff is underdeveloped-- in low-leverage relief situations where he didn't get to work on his stuff at all isn't the best use of him as a resource.

Really, though, I'm just glad I get to put this spicy little number out of mothballs and into my hunting-gear-rotation again.

[Guest Edgy DC]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: He wasn't up here for development purposes. He was here expressly to help the pen...

I don't think this is true. Nor do I think this has to be one or the other.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Not sure if this was mentioned before (in another thread perhaps) but does anybody think the Mets were influenced by how the MFY brought up Jabba?

[Frayed Knot]

The Second Spitter wrote: Not sure if this was mentioned before (in another thread perhaps) but does anybody think the Mets were influenced by how the MFY brought up Jabba?

I hope not.
The comparison gets brought up in the NYC media every once in a while but the stage each pitcher was at and the road he took to get there were so different that the two situations shouldn't be treated as analogous at all.

[metirish]

I do kinda like how Jerry put it , his development had leveled off here and going down is the next step in that"......something along those lines anyway.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: He wasn't up here for development purposes. He was here expressly to help the pen... I don't think this is true. Nor do I think this has to be one or the other.

Even Ivory's only 99.44% pure, granted.

But do I really have to excavate the ST articles for proof again? Virtually all of the quotes out of MetsCentrum rom February and March indicated that he was up because of the fastball, and because Manuel thought he would be a prime contender for the "8th-inning guy" thing. There's been some "this isn't bad for him" type rationalization in postgame pressers and Omar interviews... but that's been ALL after-the-fact, and in response to pointed, specific questions. None of this was stated publicly (or even anonymously leaked and reported) at the time the decision was made, IIRC.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

What would you expect them to say? Hey, National League, when we bring this guy in, please understand we're only experimenting. I think it was pretty obvious they wanted to see how he would do and give him a taste of what he was up against. Otherwise, why demote him when he's done relatively better than Valdes or Igarashi?

You don't have to be happy about it, but having a good fastball and being "in the 8th inning mix" were true statements, if not the only possible answers to the question of his being here.

[G-Fafif]

The presence of a pitcher I had come to think of as "My Mejia" had done wonders for reviving the humming of

around here.

Looking forward to the return of the kid when he comes a long, long way.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

BW had some pipes.

[Guest Edgy DC]

He wasn't up here for development purposes. He was here expressly to help the pen... I don't think this is true. Nor do I think this has to be one or the other. Even Ivory's only 99.44% pure, granted. But do I really have to excavate the ST articles for proof again? Virtually all of the quotes out of MetsCentrum rom February and March indicated that he was up because of the fastball, and because Manuel thought he would be a prime contender for the "8th-inning guy" thing. There's been some "this isn't bad for him" type rationalization in postgame pressers and Omar interviews... but that's been ALL after-the-fact, and in response to pointed, specific questions. None of this was stated publicly (or even anonymously leaked and reported) at the time the decision was made, IIRC.

Sheesh, they also said the plan was return him to starting for his benefit. Which they did. They aslo said weeks ago the plan was to begin that plan this season, which they did.

Meanwhile, they spare him a full season's starter's workload and deliver to him the knowledge that he has the ability to get major league hitters out. Which he did.

Fucking Added Bonus: His final appearance was one of his best, in a tense rivalry, before a packed house, in a huge showcase, against an excellent offense. What a great positive to pull him out on.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Finally, I'd like to invite Keith Law to bite my BW (big white) ass. Between his knowitallism on the Mejia thing and his willfully ignorant remarks on the Cory Vaughn draft ("why scout him and watch him strike out?!? LOL!), he's fast becoming ... the Joe Buck of the Seamhead Media? Fuck him.

[Ceetar]

Fucking Added Bonus: His final appearance was one of his best, in a tense rivlary, before a packed house, in a huge showcase, against an excellent offense. What a great positive to pull him out on.

Can't argue with this. His "Mental" development is that much greater going down after yesterday's game, than it would've been had they done it after, say one of the walk-off homers he gave up.

[Zvon]

I think sending him down was a great thing.
Stretch him out. Let him get his work in.

Might need him late in the season for spots.

This kid could be a big chunk of our future success if the ball bounces that way.

[Guest Edgy DC]

New York magazine seems to go with the tiresome but apparently evergreen "It's the Mets, so of course it's their fault and of course it's catastrophic" angle.

Uglier, though, might be the injury to Jenrry Mejia, the team's top pitching prospect, the one they've been dicking around with all season. As it happens, after the Mets sent him back to Binghamton to work on being a starter � which is what he'd been the whole time until this odd bullpen-in-the-majors experiment � he complains of shoulder trouble and is now sitting out indefinitely with a "posterior cuff strain." The Mets, predictably, say their jerking around had nothing to do with his injury. Whatever did cause it, it's a problem: Not only was Mejia a top prospect, he was a top trading chip for Cliff Lee, a guy everyone wants and a guy the Mariners aren't exactly going to jump to trade for a confused pitcher with a bum wing. To get Lee, the Mets will have to come up with something/someone else. What that could be ... well, your guess is as good as ours, and the Mets'.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

New York magazine seems to go with the tiresome but apparently evergreen "It's the Mets, so of course it's their fault and of course it's catastrophic" angle. Uglier, though, might be the injury to Jenrry Mejia, the team's top pitching prospect, the one they've been dicking around with all season. As it happens, after the Mets sent him back to Binghamton to work on being a starter � which is what he'd been the whole time until this odd bullpen-in-the-majors experiment � he complains of shoulder trouble and is now sitting out indefinitely with a "posterior cuff strain." The Mets, predictably, say their jerking around had nothing to do with his injury. Whatever did cause it, it's a problem: Not only was Mejia a top prospect, he was a top trading chip for Cliff Lee, a guy everyone wants and a guy the Mariners aren't exactly going to jump to trade for a confused pitcher with a bum wing. To get Lee, the Mets will have to come up with something/someone else. What that could be ... well, your guess is as good as ours, and the Mets'.

At this point, even I'm tired of this angle.

But speaking as a naif to the intricacies of "stretching out" bullpen arms, I can't help but think the throwing schedule they had him on seemed kinda odd: something like 45 pitches his first time out, followed by 3-4 consecutive starts of 60 pitches, each on three days' rest.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

It'd be cool if the whole thing is a fake designed to trick other teams into trading for inferior Met youngsters at the deadline.

[Guest Edgy DC]

My data says he only got two appearances in.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=516769

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Yeah... that was the supposed plan going forward. (Not faulting it for the injury; just sayin'.)

[batmagadanleadoff]

All of a sudden, I find myself effin sick of all of the Mejia talk. Ninety eight percent of all pitchers hyped as much as Mejia don't amount to a hill of beans anyway, either because they don't develop the goods or because they sustain a career impacting injury early in their careers. And those injuries aren't necessarily the fault of their employer; baseball is a risky business and pitching is a dangerous undertaking. Today, my feeling is that if the Mariners mainly want Mejia for Lee, let's make the deal. It's not as if Mejia struck out 300 batters in less than 200 innings or something. Floyd Youmans was gonna win multiple Cy Youngs. Dave West was a perennial all-star. Juan Berenguer threw harder than Ryan. And Generation K was Koufax and Drysdale plus one more.

[Gwreck]

Ding. Winner. Trade him for Cliff Lee NOW!!!!